Abstract
The use of keyboard and mouse combinations to navigate 3D environments of virtual worlds requires the coordination of both hands in order for the 2D degrees of motion of the mouse to transform into the variety of motions available in a 3D space. Such coordination may pose a challenge to people with motor disabilities. 3D controllers known as "3D mice" are presented by manufacturers as significant interface alternatives. To establish the feasibility of such claims, the authors conducted a usability test of two 3D mice marketed by 3Dconnexion, in parallel with a keyboard + mouse test. The 10 participants had motor disabilities due to medullary lesions on vertebrae C5-D11 and performed 13 different tasks in the Second Life virtual world: 5 participants used 3D mice and 5 used keyboard + mouse. The main conclusion is that 2-3 of the 5 most challenging tasks in the keyboard + mouse combination become less challenging using 3D mice. Participants' feedback was more positive regarding 3D mice, but with significant differences between mice. Contrary to initial expectations of the authors, the least stable mouse, Space Navigator, produced the best feedback.

Abstract
Many efforts are being devoted towards achieving optimal planning and operation of DER (Distributed Energy Resources). However, during the planning process, not all relevant thermal constraints of the distribution network are considered; some works claim that they must be taken into account, while others follow the single-node approach. This paper assesses the effects of the distribution network thermal constraints in DER planning, using a deterministic linear programming problem to find the optimal DER planning and operation. Three case studies with different network topologies under several DER implementation scenarios are analyzed. A DC load flow is used to estimate the required network reinforcements to accommodate optimal DER investments, if any. Reinforcement costs are then calculated to assess the net benefit compared to limiting DER investments and operation, according to the network thermal limits. Results suggest that there is no significant economic advantage in limiting DER investments and line flows, compared to reinforcing the low voltage network to allow the larger flows that result from an unconstrained network problem.

Abstract
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is a very popular tool in lean environments to represent production flows, mapping value stream of a product or family of products, and helps to identify some types of waste. Although very popular, this tool has some limitations as already described in many publications, especially in terms of restrictions in showing most types of waste as well as in its inability to represent various production routes. The purpose of this study is to introduce the waste identification diagram (WID), a new tool to represent production units with its different forms of waste, which overcomes some VSM limitations. The originality of WID comes from the use of its symbols' dimensions to convey, in a visual and immediate way, relevant information about a production unit. In this paper, WID is applied on a production unit of a lift manufacturer, for testing its performance and comparing it to VSM. The main findings are that WID is in general more effective than VSM in terms of representation of complex production units and in terms of identification of more forms of waste. WID must however overcome some of its limitations such as the lack of information-flow representation and the links to suppliers and clients.

Abstract
The automatic content analysis of mass media in the social sciences has become necessary and possible with the raise of social media and computational power. One particularly promising avenue of research concerns the use of opinion mining. We design and implement the POPmine system which is able to collect texts from web-based conventional media (news items in mainstream media sites) and social media (blogs and Twitter) and to process those texts, recognizing topics and political actors, analyzing relevant linguistic units, and generating indicators of both frequency of mention and polarity (positivity/negativity) of mentions to political actors across sources, types of sources, and across time.

Abstract
Large-scale deployment of renewables in island energy systems attracts local attention of grid operators as a way of reducing fuel fossil consumption. Planning a grid based on renewable power plants poses serious challenges to the normal operation of a power system, namely on frequency and voltage stability. In past grid code compliance, wind turbines did not require services for supporting grid operation. To shift to large renewable energy integration, the island grid code should incorporate a new set of requirements in order to regulate the inclusion of these services, which is the aim of this paper. The paper also discusses additional requirements such as "virtual" wind inertia.

Abstract
Agent-based modeling (ABM) is a bottom-up modeling approach, where each entity of the system being modeled is uniquely represented as an independent decision-making agent. ABMs are very sensitive to implementation details. Thus, it is very easy to inadvertently introduce changes which modify model dynamics. Such problems usually arise due to the lack of transparency in model descriptions, which constrains how models are assessed, implemented and replicated. In this paper, we present PPHPC, a model which aims to serve as a standard in agent based modeling research, namely, but not limited to, conceptual model specification, statistical analysis of simulation output, model comparison and parallelization studies. This paper focuses on the first two aspects (conceptual model specification and statistical analysis of simulation output), also providing a canonical implementation of PPHPC. The paper serves as a complete reference to the presented model, and can be used as a tutorial for simulation practitioners who wish to improve the way they communicate their ABMs.